Kukla's Korner Hockey

As we all know, Sidney Crosby meets the press this afternoon at 12:30pm. There isn’t a ton of insight into what will be discussed during the presser, but he is slated to give an update on his health after meeting with experts in both Michigan and Georgia following a reoccurance of concussion symptoms in August.

Though there is an update forthcoming, sources have told the Tribune Review’s Rob Rossi that there isn’t expected to be a major announcement regarding change in status. I will be live at the presser, but you can watch the feed below.

This isn’t Ansar Kahn interviewing Chris Osgood over buffalo chicken wings at Hooters about the quixotic notion that an average player such as him should be in the Hall of Fame.

This is the defining player of his generation giving a statement about his progress after suffering the defining injury in modern sports. It attracted non-local media from a dozen publications in two countries and required the presence of two of the foremost doctors in their field, all of whom presumably have too many things on their schedules to spend an extra day watching it rain from their hotel rooms in a city they have no other reason to be in. Logistically, it could not be postponed. If it had been, RDS would be posting stories, in retaliation, that the postponement was due to Crosby’s death.

Posted by
steviesteve
on 09/07/11 at 03:39 PM ET

“If it had been, RDS would be posting stories, in retaliation, that the postponement was due to Crosby’s death. ”Posted by steviesteve on 09/07/11 at 01:39 PM ET

We all feel incredibly sorry about the Russian plane crash, but I should have seen it coming that Wings fans would find some angle like this to criticize Crosby/the Pens over this press conference. Get a life people. Don’t you ever stop bitching?

He had a press conference to say basically NOTHING on a day when so many lives in the hockey world were lost. I think the press would have understood if he had had the class to say that his “news” could wait.

I can see why people would think it inappropriate to continue with a press conference regarding hockey when the hockey world was mourning the loss of so many, however considering the content of the conference it is acceptable. They weren’t announcing an endorsement deal or a contract or something along those lines… they were updating the health of a player who many consider to be the face of the league—one of, if not the best player in the world. Would have been tough to reschedule something that brought most of the hockey world into one room.

Having been there myself, I can tell you that it was a veritable who’s who of hockey media… Kevin Allen, Scott Burnside, Darren Dreger, Craig Custance, any many others representing TSN, CBC, Sportsnet… Not to mention the cavalcade of Pittsburgh media folks who were already at the venue when world of the tragedy broke.

Personally, I was glad to have the press conference to cover as it helped get my mind off of the accident. I really have been having a hard time getting my head around it. Insane to think that so many could be effected in seconds… it is what makes life so scary sometimes.

I will have a blog up on today’s press conference soon… glad that some of your who were interested in seeing the conference were able to utilize the feed that we provided here at KK.

FYI - it would have been the team (who already knew what would be discussed) that would have had to cancel the presser… not Crosby.

Why would he be powerless to cancel it?

I personally don’t care, I don’t think this presser really has anything to do with the tragedy in Russia, but if Crosby decided that it was maybe not appropriate to have the press conference you can bet your bottom dollar, your top dollar and every one in between that there would not have been a press conference.

Man some sensitive Wings fans in here. I don’t see the problem with the presser. As stated above, it wasn’t to announce some trivial little thing, it was planned well before the crash, they did acknowledge the tragedy, etc. I’m a Wings fan that enjoys the Pit/Det “rivalry” but lets not go overboard here. The best player in the game has been out for 8 months, there have been persisting questions and rumors, training camp is around the corner. Made sense to me.

To be completely fair though, what happened to that plane in Russia affects the hockey world as a whole and there really was nothing said at the press conference that couldn’t have waited.

Sure, there have been rumours about it, but nobody is concerned with spreading rumours about Crosby at this moment, and nothing that was said at the presser is going to stop those who have been spreading rumours from continuing to spread rumours once this tragedy is in the past.

I see your point Garth, I just get annoyed with some Det fans’ obsession with the word class. The presser really didn’t reveal anything we already knew, but I was still glad to hear him brush off the retirement question- as far fetched as it may be. I do agree that the plane crash is a big deal. Heck I even think wearing some kind of patch might be in order for NHL clubs next month or this season.